[Peace-discuss] we are here to help you

[E. Wayne Johnson]

On 9/4/2011 6:12 AM, Corey Mattson wrote:
> How we define 'fascism' is determined by our political ideology and 
> agenda, of course. I disagree with this formation for the following 
> reasons ---
>
> 1. What's left out here is the context in which a Fascist movement 
> develops. It is a top-down, authoritarian response to smash popular 
> forces of working people and their institutions, supported by big 
> business. Big business sees a threat to the capitalist system and its 
> functioning, so it needs to get rid of its opposition. Labor unionists 
> and working-class political parties were attacked early on in Italy 
> and Germany.
>
> 2. Also left out is that under Fascism, there is a fusion between big 
> business and the state. From what he says, Noam Chomsky thinks that 
> this is the single-most important facet of fascism.
>
> 3. Top-down "planning" is an element, I think, because big business 
> finds it necessary to keep the capitalist system afloat. They become 
> the top-down planners because they become the state. (But, I think it 
> should be said that capitalism always requires planning and would be 
> unstable and eventually collapse without it. The free market is a 
> myth. ... And planning is planning, whether it occurs in government or 
> in corporate and bank boardrooms. ....Whether under capitalism or some 
> other social system, our struggles should be over who controls 
> "planning," where it should be restricted, and making it democratic 
> and accountable in democratic institutions. But the formation given by 
> Flynn includes opposing "planning" that is progressive and democratic, 
> and necessary.)
I suppose that what Flynn was saying in 1944, and your statement are 
similar but in different words.

3. In which the government is organized to operate the capitalist system 
and enable it to function-under an immense bureaucracy.

4. In which the economic society is organized on the syndicalist model, 
that is by producing groups formed into craft and professional
categories under supervision of the state.

5. In which the government and the syndicalist organizations operate the 
capitalist society on the planned, autarchial principle.


You can read the entire book here:

http://mises.org/books/aswegomarching.pdf



> --- Corey
>
>
> On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 4:10 PM, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag 
> <mailto:ewj at pigs.ag>> wrote:
>
>     As we survey the whole scene in Italy, therefore, we may now name
>     all the essential ingredients of fascism.
>
>     It is a form of social organization
>     1. In which the government acknowledges no restraint upon its
>     powers—totalitarianism.
>
>     2. In which this unrestrained government is managed by a dictator
>     —the leadership principle.
>
>     3. In which the government is organized to operate the capitalist
>     system and enable it to function-under an immense bureaucracy.
>
>     4. In which the economic society is organized on the syndicalist
>     model, that is by producing groups formed into craft and professional
>     categories under supervision of the state.
>
>     5. In which the government and the syndicalist organizations
>     operate the capitalist society on the planned, autarchial principle.
>
>     6. In which the government holds itself responsible to provide the
>     nation with adequate purchasing power by public spending and
>     borrowing.
>
>     7. In which militarism is used as a conscious mechanism of
>     government spending, and
>     8. In which imperialism is included as a policy inevitably flowing
>     from militarism as well as other elements of fascism.
>
>     Wherever you find a nation using all of these devices you will
>     know that this is a fascist nation. In proportion as any nation uses
>     most of them you may assume it is tending in the direction of fascism.
>
>     (As We Go Marching, John T Flynn, 1944)
>     _______________________________________________
>     Peace-discuss mailing list
>     Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>     <mailto:Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>     http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20110904/42c45f39/attachment.html>